Coronavirus Update: Ontario pulls provincewide “emergency brake”

Good evening, here are the coronavirus updates you need to know tonight.

Top headlines:

1. Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a provincewide “emergency brake” to curb the spread of more transmissible variants of COVID-19
2. Canada passed a new milestone for vaccinations this week: 5 million Canadians now have at least one dose
3. Pfizer Inc and BioNTech say updated trial data shows their vaccine is around 91 per cent effective, and protective against the South African variant

In the last 7 days, 36,356 cases were reported, up 27 per cent from the previous 7 days. There were 212 deaths announced, up 6 per cent over the same period. At least 2,454 people are being treated in hospitals and 914,685 others are considered recovered.

Canada’s inoculation rate is 35th among 84 countries with a population of one million or more people.

Open this photo in gallery:

Sources: Canada data is compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data is from Johns Hopkins University.

Coronavirus explainers: Coronavirus in maps and charts • Tracking vaccine doses • Lockdown rules and reopening • Vaccine distribution plan • Four vaccines approved in Canada • Essential resources

Photo of the day

Open this photo in gallery:

Coronavirus in Canada

• In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced a provincewide “emergency brake,” to take effect for four weeks starting Saturday. The shutdown will bring about few changes to areas already locked down, such as Toronto and Peel, where the only major change is a reversal of the move to allow patio dining.
• In Quebec, a gym that was ordered to close for not following public health rules has now been linked to 120 COVID-19 infections. Lockdown in Quebec City and two other regions is set to take effect tonight, closing schools and non-essential businesses.
• In British Columbia, after the government announced people aged 55 to 65 would be eligible to get an Oxford-AstraZeneca shot through a pharmacy on Tuesday, the rollout for actually securing the shot proved bumpy. Meanwhile, a human rights tribunal ruled that the Human Rights Code can’t protect anti-maskers making unproven claims. And, workers in the province will get time off to get their COVID-19 vaccinations.
• In Saskatchewan, remote learning is extended until April 26 in Regina over concerns about an increase in COVID-19 variant cases.
• Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says rising cases of more contagious COVID-19 variants should be a “wake-up call” but his government won’t impose lockdown measures.

In Canada, the number of people vaccinated with at least one dose topped five million as of Thursday morning.

• The country will need to up its game to get a single dose to every eligible person by Canada Day; 27 million people over 16 still need a first dose.
• About 1.4 million doses are needed to add kids aged 12 to 15, who should soon be eligible to get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine after a successful trial concluded this week.

COVID-19 vaccines: Citing updated data, Pfizer says its vaccine is 91 per cent effective and protective against the South African variant. Meanwhile, there are more than 1.5 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses on their way to provinces now that Health Canada has authorized the U.S. sites where they were made.

Pandemic measures: Experts worry that frequent use of hand sanitizer and disinfectants could have a harmful effect on our microbiomes, with lasting consequences for our health.

Coronavirus around the world

• Latin America barely recovered from the first incarnation of COVID-19, and is now fighting more contagious variants with fewer vaccine supplies than the developed world.
• Less than four months before the Tokyo Olympics, Japan placed Osaka and two other areas in partial COVID-19 states of emergency.
• The World Health Organization called European nations “unacceptably slow” at immunizing against COVID-19.

Coronavirus and business

Canadian homeowners have made additional mortgage payments during the pandemic, taking advantage of savings built up during the lockdowns to pay down their home loans.

• A total of $34-billion of additional or unscheduled mortgage payments were made last year, compared with $31-billion in 2019, according to a new report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Also today: TD’s CEO is cautioning against rushing to make policy changes in response to ballooning home prices.

And: Here’s what a ‘hot’ housing market looks like in Alberta

Globe opinion

• Robyn Urback: A vaccinate-or-mask policy, which might be sufficient during a regular flu outbreak, simply isn’t enough for COVID-19. Health and long-term care workers who decline vaccination should be put on unpaid leave.
• Doug Saunders: Last weekend, Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted on TV that COVID-19 was out of control and that her efforts to cut a spiraling infection rate by negotiating an urgently needed Easter shutdown had failed. This should be a warning to all of us.
• The Editorial Board: Spring has sprung a third wave and Canada doesn’t yet have enough vaccines to win. That means that most provinces have no option but to reintroduce public-health measures in April that they spent March whittling down.
• Konrad Yakabuski: Every effort must be made to identify the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that unleashed the horror of the past year on humankind. China, sadly, appears uninterested in sharing what it knows with the rest of the world.
• David Parkinson: If the federal government is going to stimulate the kind of stronger economic growth that can lift government revenues sufficiently to rein in the enormous deficits imposed by the COVID-19 crisis, improving labour-force growth should be a critical element in the stimulus efforts.
• Cathal Kelly: Clothes will return post-pandemic because a jacket and tie says something about your intentions. Going to an important meeting without taking some effort to put yourself together creates the wrong impression. But torture shoes? We can move past those.

Information centre

• How well do vaccines work? Here’s what you need to know.
• Rob Carrick’s 10-point checklist of things you should have done by now to protect or improve your money situation. Tips for minimizing damage to your credit score; how to manage retirement anxiety during difficult times; and things to think about if you’re considering home delivery.
• Here are the expectations for self-isolation; tips for managing anxiety and protecting your mental health; and what to do if you think you have the virus. Wash your hands. How to break a bad habit (like touching your face). Is flying safe?
• The best foods to eat to maintain an immune system-friendly diet; and how to keep a healthy diet while working from home; four eating tips when working from home; and five mistakes that might cause you to gain unwanted weight. Here are the essentials to stock up on and how to shop safely for groceries; the best pantry staples and how to stop stress-eating.
• Find answers to your coronavirus and employment questions.

Sources: Canada data are compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins University and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data are from Johns Hopkins.

What are we missing? Email us: audience@globeandmail.com. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.